The  NEW  INTER-RACE 
RELATIONS  in  the  SOUTH 


Address  of  Will  W inton  jdlexander 
before  the  Seventy-sixth  Jjnnual 
Convention  of  the  A merican  Missionary 
Association,  November  8,  1 922 


(Commission  on  3httm*acial  (Cooperation 
409  Palmer  IfnttlMnii 
Atlanta,  Oia. 


WILL  WINTON  ALEXANDER 

Director,  Commission  on  Interracial  Cooperation 


WILL  WINTON  ALEXANDER,  born  Morrisville,  Mo.,  July  15,  1884.  A.B., 
Scarritt-Morrisville  College;  B.D.  Vanderbilt.  Licensed  Minister  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  1901;  Pastor  Belmont  Church,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  First  Church,  Mur- 
freesboro, Tenn.;  Assoc.  Exec.,  Army  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Southern  Military  Dept.; 
Director  Field  Dept.,  Inter-Ch.,  World  Movement  of  N.  Amer.  in  Southeastern 
States  since  1919.  Vice-Pres.  Tenn.  Conf.  Charities  and  Corrections;  Sec. 
Tenn.  Conf.  Social  Service  Commn.  (M.  E.  Ch.  S.),  mem.  Ex.  Com.,  Com.  on 
After-War  Cooperation  between  Races.  Mason  (K.T.). 

From  “Who’s  Who.” 


<Uhe  NEW  INTER-RACE 
RELATIONS  in  the  SOUTH 

By  WILL  WINTON  ALEXANDER 


I AM  conscious  as  I stand  here  that  the  work  which  I represent 
was  in  part  made  possible  by  this  Association.  When  it  became 
apparent  that  it  should  be  continued,  you  were  the  first  church 
organization  to  which  we  turned  for  money.  Pioneers  as  you  have 
always  been,  you  had  faith  in  the  idea  and  made  an  appropriation. 
About  half  a dozen  of  the  church  boards  now  support  the  work, 
but  as  has  so  often  been  the  case  in  enterprising  work  for  Negroes 
in  America  you  were  first  among  the  churches. 

The  last  week  of  the  world  war  I traveled  from  Memphis  to 
the  end  of  the  Yazoo  Delta,  speaking  in  towns,  villages,  at  cross- 
roads stores,  and  on  scores  of  plantations,  to  the  typical  pepper- 
and-salt  audiences  of  that  section.  In  many  instances  the  pepper 
was  very  much  more  in  evidence  than  the  salt,  for  that  is  the  Black 
Belt  of  Mississippi,  and  in  most  of  the  counties  the  Negro  population 
exceeds  the  white. 

I saw  during  those  days  what  I had  never  expected  to  see: 
White  and  colored  people  from  those  Delta  plantations,  crowded 
around  a truck  on  a plantation,  or  packed  to  suffocation  in  a court 
house  or  a church,  listening  as  one  man  to  the  story  of  the  Nation 
at  war. 

I never  spoke  to  those  audiences  but  that  there  came  to  my 
mind  the  Negro  boys  over  the  South — as  I had  seen  them  go  into 
the  camps.  Each  time  I had  a word  to  say  about  them  as  I had 
seen  them  and  heard  from  others  the  story  of  their  life  in  camp  and 
overseas.  Of  course  the  colored  people  were  interested,  because  I 
said  the  very  best  word  I could — and  it  was  a good  word, — but  I 
was  greatly  surprised  to  find  that  many  of  the  better  white  people 
in  the  Delta  seemed  quite  as  much  interested  and  quite  as  kindly 
disposed  to  those  colored  boys  in  the  army  as  towards  the  white 
boys  who  had  gone  out  from  the  same  communities.  For  a moment, 
at  least,  they  had  found  a new  interest  and  a new  value  in  colored 
boys.  I came  out  of  the  Delta  country  conscious  of  two  things: 
First,  I was  conscious  of  the  wonderful  patriotism  of  the  un- 
privileged Negro  of  the  Mississippi  Delta.  In  all  the  trip,  no  man 


3 


THE  NEW  INTER-RACE 


ever  suggested  that  the  Negroes  would  not  do  their  part  in  every 
war  enterprise.  In  every  community  I heard  stories  of  their  self- 
sacrifice;  of  the  amount  of  Liberty  Bonds  they  had  bought;  of  the 
amount  of  Red  Cross  money  they  had  given ; and  of  their  willingness 
to  send  their  boys  into  the  camps. 

I was  conscious,  moreover,  of  the  wonderful  unity  that  had 
come  to  these  Delta  communities.  As  white  and  black  crowded  to- 
gether to  hear  of  the  war,  they  were  not  race  conscious.  For  a mo- 
ment something  greater  than  race  had  been  laid  upon  their  hearts, 
and  as  one  man  the  people  of  these  communities  stood  face  to  face 
with  the  great  task. 

Was  it  strange  that  many  said,  “Surely  the  war  has  brought 
to  us  here  in  the  South  one  good  thing,  at  least.  We  shall  never 
again  have  the  racial  suspicions  and  misgivings  that  have  too  often 
marked  the  previous  years.  The  Negroes  have  surely  demonstrated 
their  right  to  a larger  and  better  place  in  our  life — to  a man’s  place, 
for  they  have  played  a man’s  part  in  the  war.”  This  feeling  was 
genuine  and  general.  Then  the  Armistice  was  signed,  and  all  of 
that  good-will,  which  had  been  such  a reality,  seemed  to  have  been 
but  a dream.  With  other  reactions  from  the  wartime  idealism  ra- 
cial good-will  began  to  recede.  From  every  quarter  of  the  South 
there  came  rumors  indicating  that  instead  of  the  war  leaving  our 
race  relations  better,  it  had  left  them  submerged  in  a fog  of  sus- 
picion which  nobody  on  the  outside  could  understand  and  which 
grew  daily  more  perplexing  to  those  of  us  who  were  near  at  hand. 

There  were  in  the  South  a number  of  men  who  had  been  very 
closely  related  to  Negro  soldiers  and  civilians  during  the  war.  Dr. 
M.  Ashby  Jones,  a son  of  General  Lee’s  chaplain,  had  been  related 
to  the  War  Department  as  a special  adviser  as  to  the  Negro  churches 
and  their  contributions  to  the  winning  of  the  war.  Mr.  John  J. 
Eagan,  who  for  many  years  had  manifested  a generous  interest  in 
the  Negro  laborer  in  his  plant,  was  made  an  assistant  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  and  was  closely  related  to  the  Negro  boys  in  that 
branch  of  the  service. 

There  were  others,  and  all  of  them  shared  the  feeling  that  the 
war  had  brought  a larger  viewpoint  in  race  relations.  This  group 
was  therefore  easily  conscious  of  the  almost  complete  reversal  of 
sentiment  at  the  signing  of  the  armistice.  It  was  not  unnatural 
that  having  had  this  common  viewpoint,  these  Southern  men  should 
come  together  and  try  to  understand  what  had  happened.  Little 
by  little  the  group  was  enlarged,  colored  men  were  turned  to,  and 


4 


RELATIONS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


for  about  three  months  the  discussion  went  on.  It  was  finally  de- 
cided that  the  first  need  was  to  find  out  just  what  the  facts  were. 

A sufficient  amount  of  money  for  beginning  was  secured  from 
the  War  Work  Council  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  As  a first  step  the  at- 
tempt was  made  to  secure  a cross-section  of  the  thinking  of  our 
people  on  this  question.  Twelve  hundred  white  men  were  gathered 
from  all  over  the  South.  They  were  brought  together  in  groups 
of  a hundred.  They  were  the  men  who  make  public  opinion  in  our 
Southern  communities.  They  talked  freely  and  frankly. 

At  the  same  time  at  another  place  there  were  brought  together 
750  Negroes,  about  a hundred  in  each  group,  the  thoughtful  men 
of  their  race.  They  talked  for  a week.  (There  wasn’t  any  difficulty 
in  those  days  in  getting  Negroes  to  talk.)  Notes  were  made  of  what 
was  said.  The  Negroes  when  they  assembled,  appointed  a com- 
mittee called  an  interpreting  committee.  At  the  end  of  each  meet- 
ing there  were  not  only  notes  on  all  that  had  been  said,  but  the 
interpretation  by  the  Committee.  It  was  a voluminous  and  impor- 
tant mass  of  material. 

There  are  some  things  which  Negroes  do  not  say  except  as  they 
are  provoked  to  say  them  by  white  people.  A sufficient  number  of 
white  people  spoke  in  the  Negro  meetings  to  provoke  full  discussion 
of  vexed  points.  That  volume  of  notes,  therefore,  represented  the 
heart  and  mind  of  seven  hundred-fifty  of  the  most  intelligent  Ne- 
groes that  could  be  gathered  together  in  the  South. 

Out  of  all  this  there  began  to  emerge  interesting  facts,  already 
known  to  some  but  with  a new  significance.  One  was  that  the  more 
intelligent  Negro  and  the  more  intelligent  white  people  of  the  South 
had  little  or  no  point  of  contact,  or  means  by  which  they  could  un- 
derstand one  another;  that  they  knew  little  about  one  another, — 
particularly  white  people  regarding  Negroes  of  education  and  cul- 
ture. (This  class  of  Negroes  know  white  people  better  than  white 
people  know  them.) 

The  racial  situation  was  like  this:  At  the  top,  where  there 

was  intelligence,  good-will,  moderation,  and  self-control,  the  races 
were  far  apart,  and  as  they  began  to  drop  in  intelligence,  in  oppor- 
tunity, in  self-control,  in  religion,  their  contacts  were  multiplied. 
There  is  a place  in  the  lower  realms  of  economic  competition,  cul- 
ture and  community  life,  where  the  races  mingle.  Race  contacts 
in  the  South  were  largely  at  that  lower  level,  and  were  contacts  that 
make  trouble  and  could  make  nothing  else. 


5 


THE  NEW  INTER-RACE 


About  that  time  a study  was  made  of  Negro  homes  in  one  of 
our  Southern  towns.  It  showed  that  as  the  economic  efficiency  of 
white  and  colored  homes  dropped  they  came  closer  together.  At 
the  top  there  was  no  contact.  The  better  white  homes  did  not 
know  that  the  better  colored  homes  existed.  Then,  as  the  scale  of 
Negro  home  life  grew  lower — down  below  a certain  economic  line — 
there  began  to  be  contacts  between  that  low  strata  of  Negro  life 
and  the  more  prosperous  middle  and  upper  classes  of  white  people, 
from  the  fact  that  the  latter  drew  their  servant  class  from  the 
former.  The  first  hand  knowledge,  therefore,  of  these  better  whites 
came  largely  from  what  they  were  able  to  gather  from  the  lower 
strata  of  Negro  life  which  makes  up  the  mass  of  the  Negro  do- 
mestic servants  in  Southern  communities. 

As  a result  of  this  lack  of  contact,  much  of  the  racial  talk 
among  white  people  was  not  true;  at  least  the  things  white  people 
who  control  public  opinion  said  and  thought  about  Negroes  had  little 
basis  in  first  hand,  adequate  information.  The  popular  picture  of 
the  Negro  mind  which  the  white  people  have  is  the  picture  of  a 
Negro  mind  that  never  did  exist.  Negroes  understand  whites  bet- 
ter than  whites  understand  Negroes,  and  yet  much  that  Negroes 
attribute  to  whites  is  not  true.  The  relationships  are  made  diffi- 
cult by  misunderstandings  on  both  sides. 

There  is  much  goodwill  among  whites  in  the  South  for  Negroes. 
The  difficulty  is  that  it  is  good-will  towards  the  type  of  Negro 
that  no  longer  exists.  Old  Uncle  Tom  on  the  Southern  plantation 
was  perhaps  never  as  docile  and  submissive  and  contented  as  he 
has  been  pictured ; anyway,  he  exists  now  only  in  a story-book  and 
in  the  minds  of  many  of  the  better  people  of  the  South,  who  do 
not  realize  how  completely  this  type  has  passed.  Such  people  know 
absolutely  nothing  of  the  intelligent,  the  ambitious,  efficient  type 
of  present-day  Negro. 

Our  investigations  further  revealed  that  racial  difficulties  grow 
largely  out  of  the  mental  attitudes.  We  are  glad  that  someone 
who  has  authority  and  wisdom  has  discovered  this  also.  The  study 
made  of  the  Chicago  race  riot  devotes  a long  section  to  the  part 
that  rumor  and  myth  played  in  that  affair.  Their  conclusions  agree 
with  ours  in  this.  Because  racial  difficulties  do  grow  so  largely  out 
of  mental  attitudes,  the  problem,  in  so  far  as  there  is  one,  is  a prob- 
lem in  racial  thinking. 

We  discovered  that  by  bringing  intelligent  colored  and  white 
men  together  in  frank  and  friendly  discussion  this  chasm  between 


6 


RELATIONS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


them  could  be  bridged.  In  this  way  they  came  to  understand  one 
another;  and  whenever  men  will  sit  down  in  front  of  a thing  and 
try  to  understand  it,  the  difficulties  are  on  the  way  to  being  re- 
moved. 

Understanding,  therefore,  in  this  as  well  as  in  all  other  human 
relationships,  is  the  basis  of  good-will.  All  we  have  to  do  in  this 
country  to  keep  ourselves  moving  in  the  direction  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  in  relation  to  this  question  is  to  keep  the  lines  clear,  to 
build  a sufficient  number  of  contacts,  to  make  a sufficient  number 
of  opportunities  for  men  of  the  two  races  to  understand  one  an- 
other. 

We  have  found  a few  men  in  the  South  who  did  not  want  to 
understand.  There  are  not  very  many  of  these.  I remember  that 
when  we  brought  a group  of  white  men  together  to  discuss  race 
relations,  one  very  distinguished  minister, — a man  of  great  prom- 
inence in  the  community, — when  he  learned  what  we  were  asking 
him  to  do,  said  “I  never  sat  down  and  talked  to  Negroes  in  my 
life,  and  I shall  not  do  it.”  He  walked  out.  You  can  do  nothing 
for  such  a man.  He  hasn’t  the  will  to  understand. 

The  work  of  the  Commission  on  Interracial  Co-operation  has 
been  to  try  to  build  a bridge  across  the  gulf  that  exists  between 
the  intelligent  white  men  and  intelligent  Negroes.  There  are  eight 
hundred  counties  in  the  South  that  have  ten  per  cent  or  more  of 
Negro  population.  We  sent  a white  man  and  a colored  man  into 
each  one  of  those  communities  to  study  the  general  situation  and 
discover  who  were  leaders  of  the  two  races,  and  if  there  were  men 
in  each  group  who  had  the  confidence  of  both  races. 

This  very  interesting  thing  developed : White  men  that  white 
men  believe  in  are  as  a rule  the  white  men  that  Negroes  believe  in. 
Negroes  that  honest,  intelligent  white  men  believe  in  are  the  Ne- 
groes that  intelligent  Negroes  believe  in.  There  is  no  mystery  here. 
Soon  we  began  to  discover  that  in  many  of  the  communities  we 
could  bring  these  men  together — get  them  to  sit  down  and  talk 
over  the  local  situation — and  that  out  of  that  very  conversation  it- 
self grew  a better  race  attitude.  Whenever  the  habit  of  conference 
grew  up,  not  only  could  a better  racial  attitude  be  maintained,  but 
many  of  the  things  that  vexed  the  life  of  the  community  could  be 
corrected — things  which  all  right-thinking  people  knew  ought  to 
be  corrected.  Whenever  men  set  themselves  to  work  to  correct  in- 
justices and  wrongs  the  step  resulted  in  better  race  relationships. 


7 


THE  NEW  INTER-RACE 


There  are,  therefore,  two  fundamental  principles  for  creatmg 
better  race  relations:  Conference  and  Cooperation. 

There  had  been  a conspiracy  of  silence  in  the  South  on  this 
question.  Dr.  Moton  says  that  Negroes  tell  white  men  what  they 
think  is  safe  for  white  men  to  know ; and  that  white  men  tell 
Negroes  what  they  think  Negroes  have  sense  enough  to  understand. 
You  cannot  get  along  that  way.  The  first  step  is  to  bring  this  ques- 
tion to  open,  frank  discussion.  There  is  nothing  about  it  that  can- 
not be  discussed.  There  is  nothing  that  makes  for  danger  more 
than  whisperings  behind  closed  doors.  You  in  the  Northern  cities 
need  to  be  warned  that  secret  organizations  and  secret  methods  of 
dealing  with  this  question  only  tend  to  spread  the  hysteria  and 
stir  the  passion  so  common  to  communities  where  race  questions 
are  acute.  This  question  needs  daylight.  Underground  and  secret 
methods  lead  to  confusion  and  suffering. 

Right  race  relations  are  a by-product.  If  men  work  together 
around  the  concrete  task,  they  will  soon  change  their  attitudes  to 
one  another.  Two  men  cannot  be  made  to  agree  by  bumping  their 
heads  together.  Get  them  together  and  set  them  at  work  on  a 
concrete  task,  and  out  of  the  work  will  come  a better  relation. 

One  difficulty  in  the  South,  and  in  other  sections  of  the  coun- 
try as  well,  is  that  we  have  too  little  consciousness  among  the 
people  of  either  race  of  those  things  that  pertain  to  the  whole  com 
munity.  The  rising  tide  of  community  consciousness  which  n 
bringing  to  the  proper  attention  the  larger  community  problems 
that  must  be  worked  at  by  all  will  be  of  great  help. 

I said  a moment  ago  that  this  question  was  largely  a ques^ 
tion  of  the  way  men  think.  May  I briefly  sketch  to  you  how  we 
have  undertaken  to  effect  public  opinion,  bearing  in  mind  always 
that  the  local  community  is  the  unit  in  which  better  race  relations 
are  built. 

Neither  the  white  press  nor  the  Negro  press  in  this  country 
is  helping  very  much  in  the  solution  of  this  problem.  The  white 
press  is  usually  unfair  regarding  Negroes,  and  the  Negro  press  is 
quite  as  onesided  in  the  views  given  of  whites. 

The  white  press  has  been  in  the  habit  of  playing  up  every- 
thing bad  that  the  Negro  had  done,  seeming  to  discover  little  that 
could  be  commended. 

The  Commission  on  Interracial  Cooperation  undertook  to  cor- 
rect the  worst  features  of  the  white  press.  For  instance,  Dr. 


8 


RELATIONS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


Blackwell  of  Virginia  watches  all  the  white  papers  in  that  State. 
Whenever  one  of  them  begins  to  violate  public  safety  and  is  unfair 
he  writes  or  sees  the  editor  and  shows  him  that  instead  of  helping 
with  the  race  problem,  as  the  editor  being  a good  citizen  desires 
to  do,  he  is  hindering.  He  points  out  the  specific  article  and  the 
way  in  which  it  has  hindered.  There  are  in  each  state  now  a num- 
ber of  people  who  are  trying  to  do  this.  We  hope  ultimately  to 
have  in  each  community  more  than  one  person  trying  to  help  the 
press  to  be  of  service. 

Here  is  an  example.  A riot  seemed  inevitable  in  1919,  in  At- 
lanta. The  city  didn’t  want  it,  but  no  one  knew  just  what  to  do. 
There  was  great  anxiety.  One  Monday  the  Constitution,  a very 
progressive  and  helpful  paper,  published  in  flaming  headlines, 
“RACE  RIOT  BREAKS  OUT  IN  DECATUR.”  Those  who  saw  it 
supposed  that  the  expected  had  come.  Full  of  misgivings  I went 
down  town  to  discover  that  there  was  no  race  riot.  Two  Negroes 
had  gotten  on  the  car  to  ride  to  Decatur,  several  miles  out;  they 
were  drinking  and  made  a disturbance  on  the  car  by  exhibiting  a 
pistol.  They  left  the  car  near  the  courthouse  at  Decatur.  One  of 
them  was  captured  by  a deputy  sheriff  and  others  who  gave  chase. 
The  other  took  to  the  plowed  fields.  He  found  himself  pursued  by  a 
colored  boy  and  a fat  “deputy.”  The  deputy  was  soon  outdistanced, 
and  the  colored  boy  said,  “Give  me  the  gun ; I’ll  get  him.”  The 
deputy  handed  over  the  gun.  The  boy  came  within  calling  distance 
of  the  fugitive  and  said,  “They  are  trying  to  get  me  too ; hold  on.” 
The  fleeing  Negro  didn’t  stop  and  the  boy  shot  him  in  the  leg,  cap- 
tured him  and  took  him  back  to  the  courthouse. 

Here  was  an  opportunity  to  tell  the  community  of  the  perfectly 
fine  way  in  which  a colored  boy  had  helped  to  enforce  the  law. 
The  Constitution,  sincere  in  its  professed  desire  to  help,  called  it 
a race-riot.  The  habit  of  seeking  the  sensational  and  naming  it 
news  simply  asserted  itself.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the 
management  of  the  paper  regretted  the  incident  when  it  was  called 
to  its  attention.  There  has  been  improvement.  Two  or  three  weeks 
ago  a serious  crime  was  committed  by  a colored  man.  I read  of  it 
the  next  morning — inside  the  paper  near  the  classified  advertis- 
ing page  in  about  an  inch  of  space.  This  was  as  it  should  be,  and 
the  Constitution  was  helping  by  its  news  policy  to  create  better 
race  relations. 

To  keep  the  bad  things  from  the  headlines  is  merely  negative. 
The  white  papers  should  print  the  good  things  which  Negroes  do, 


9 


THE  NEW  INTER-RACE 


and  the  Negro  papers  should  give  space  to  constructive  things  as 
well  as  outrages  and  injustice  suffered.  The  main  reason  for 
not  doing  so  is  that  they  do  not  know  of  the  good  things  or  how 
to  get  information  about  them.  The  Commission  on  Interracial 
Cooperation  is  sending  to  500  white  papers  in  the  South  twice  each 
month  the  best  things  that  Negroes  are  doing,  and  to  a similar 
number  of  Negro  papers  the  constructive  things  being  accomplished 
through  cooperation.  Little  by  little,  very  slowly,  there  is  a per- 
ceptible change  in  the  attitude  of  the  press. 

It  wras  said  that  Southern  women  were  the  “Hindenburg  Line” 
in  race  relations.  There  were  many  things  to  give  weight  to  this 
view  and  to  make  it  difficult  for  Southern  women  to  think  and  see 
straight  to  the  essential  thing  in  race  relations. 

One  hundred  Southern  women  vrere  brought  together  in  Mem- 
phis in  October,  1919.  They  represented  the  leadership  of  the 
Christian  womanhood  of  the  South ; they  w7ere  among  the  finest  of 
our  Southern  women.  A hundred  women  more  intelligent  or  in- 
fluential could  not  have  been  found.  A number  of  Negro  women 
were  brought  to1  meet  them.  One  of  them  is  in  the  audience  to- 
night. For  two  days  they  sat  quietly  together,  and  for  the  first 
time  the  new  Southern  womanhood  heard  an  intelligent  Negro  wife 
and  mother  tell  the  story  of  her  life,  the  story  of  her  home,  and  the 
story  of  her  children,  as  they  find  life  in  the  South.  It  wras  a most 
remarkable  meeting. 

The  response  of  these  wiiite  women  wTas  most  beautiful.  If 
you  will  read  the  little  pamphlet,  “Southern  Women  and  Race  Co- 
operation,” which  condenses  their  utterances,  you  will  find  the 
most  clear-cut  Christian  statement  that  has  ever  come  out  of  the 
South  on  this  question.  The  story  of  the  Southern  Negro  women 
and  children  in  Negro  homes  reached  the  mother  heart  of  these 
wiiite  women.  Their  emotions  were  deeply  stirred,  so  deeply  in 
fact  that  some  wrho  saw  it  w7ere  afraid  of  a reaction  wThen  the  meet- 
ing had  passed. 

Little  was  done  to  follow  up  the  Memphis  Conference  for 
twelve  months  afterward.  But  the  women  had  gone  back  into 
their  communities  with  a new7  viewpoint  on  this  question.  The 
effect  of  their  individual  efforts  soon  began  to  be  manifest.  Little 
by  little  we  began  to  bring  together  in  their  various  states  the 
women  of  the  Memphis  Conference,  together  v7ith  other  women  of 
influence.  The  plan  wTas  to  reach  the  organized  wdiite  womanhood 
of  the  South  with  the  facts  regarding  Negro  women  and  children. 


10 


RELATIONS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


Today  women’s  organizations  with  a million  and  a half  members 
are  cooperating.  Missionary  societies,  women’s  clubs,  and  the  like 
have  pledged  themselves  to  fight  lynching  and  are  demanding  of 
those  who-  enforce  the  law  in  the  South  that  lynching  shall  cease. 
They  are  pledged  to  work  in  their  local  communities  not  FOR  Negro 
women  but  WITH  them,  that  Negro  home  life  and  Negro  child 
life  may  have  a better  chance. 

The  men  of  the  South  may  accomplish  little,  but  when  a mil- 
lion and  a half  women  in  their  organizations  have  set  to  work  for 
so  worthy  a cause,  we  may  confidentially  expect  that  in  ten  years 
something  worth  while  will  have  been  brought  to  pass.  (Applause.) 

It  is  difficult  for  you  to  understand  the  meaning  of  this  move- 
ment among  Southern  women.  Negro  womanhood  and  Negro 
homelife  have  not  had  proper  protection  and  help.  When  a mil- 
lion and  a half  white  women  in  the  South  understand,  as  they 
have  not  understood  before,  the  things  against  which  Negro  home- 
life  battles,  there  will  be  a new  day  for  Negro  women  and  Negro 
homes  in  the  South.  (Applause.) 

For  years  under  Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford  there  have  been  vol- 
untary classes  in  the  colleges  for  the  study  of  this  question.  A 
few  years  ago  two  annual  conferences  of  college  professors  began 
to  be  held,  one  East  and  one  West  of  the  Mississippi.  Teachers 
of  history,  economics,  and  sociology  in  Southern  colleges  came  to- 
gether to  seek  to  answer  the  question,  “What  can  the  colleges  of 
the  South  do  to  enable  students  to  deal  intelligently  with  this 
question  ?” 

Today  as  a result  of  these  conferences  and  similar  efforts,  at 
least  fifty  colleges  of  the  South  have  courses  in  race  relations. 

In  1921  a number  of  intelligent  colored  men  spoke  in  Southern 
colleges.  They  proved  in  some  instances  the  most  popular  speakers 
that  came  during  the  year.  This  year  in  possibly  half  our  colleges 
Negroes  will  speak  on  what  the  Negro  wants  and  what  he  ought 
to  have  in  American  life.  In  not  a few  cases  this  will  be  at  the 
regular  chapel  or  some  other  hour  which  will  signify  the  approval 
of  the  college  authorities.  Here  is  the  report  of  one  of  these  visits 
to  a state  school:  “I  have  just  come  from  the  most  marvelous  ex- 
perience I have  ever  had,”  said  one  of  the  most  intelligent  Negroes 
in  America.  “I  spoke  Sunday  to  the  students  in  the  State  College 

in . They  listened  attentively  as  I told  them  as  frankly  as  I 

coukl  what  were  the  dominant  hopes  of  the  Negro  in  America  and 
how  they  could  help  secure  for  the  Negro  his  chance  to  be  a man. 


11 


THE  NEW  INTER-RACE 


Many  of  them  came  up  to  me  at  the  conclusion  and  said,  ‘We  believe 
in  what  you  say  and  we  intend  to  help  make  possible  the  things 
for  which  you  are  striving’.” 

A way  must  be  found  to  get  this  subject  before  high  schools, 
and  into  lower  grades.  The  study  of  the  pictures  of  the  riot  in 
Chicago  will  reveal  the  presence  of  boys  in  knickerbockers.  How 
many  of  the  lynchings  in  America  grow  out  of  the  easily  suscepti- 
ble psychology  of  boys? 

The  educational  authorities  in  one  Southern  State  are  now 
seeking  to  get  a new  text  book  on  civics  written  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  needs  of  that  State.  It  will  be  used  in  the  grades  and 
in  high  schools.  Into  it  will  go  a section  on  what  an  American’s 
attitude  ought  to  be  towards  this  question. 

Much  of  the  above  is  only  in  the  beginning.  Most  of  it  is 
yet  to  be  done.  The  problem  is  not  solved.  Many  things  are 
probably  about  as  bad  as  they  have  ever  been,  but  these  recent 
years  have  seen  some  things  emerge.  The  following  are  worthy  of 
mention : 

1.  In  many  communities  a method  has  been  demonstrated. 
No  community  that  has  had  one  of  these  committees  for  confer- 
ence and  cooperation  has  had  a race  riot  or  a lynching,  and  in 
probably  forty  per  cent  of  the  counties  of  the  South  there  can  be 
found  some  group  seeking  to  maintain  such  a committee. 

2.  The  forces  working  for  racial  goodwill  in  America  have 
been  unified.  There  may  be  a race  war,  but  there  is  a group  of 
white  and  colored  men  down  in  the  South  who  will  not  line  up  on 
a race  issue.  They  are  working  and  will  continue  to  work  for  the 
good  of  the  whole  group.  They  have  come  to  know  one  another 
with  a new  confidence.  Such  groups  are  a foundation  upon  which 
can  be  built  race  relations.  Men  talk  about  it  as  though  it  were 
some  abstract  thing.  Race  relations  are  just  human  relations. 
The  building  up  of  a constantly  enlarging  group  of  white  and  col- 
ored men  in  America,  men  who  stand  together,  is  the  only  basis 
upon  which  can  be  built  better  race  relationships.  Men  are  persons 
first.  The  color  is  secondary. 

3.  Never  before  since  the  Civil  War  has  the  Negro  had  such 
a chance  to  speak  for  himself.  Dr.  Ashby  Jones  has  been  saying 
to  his  audiences,  “Whatever  you  think  about  this  question,  in  the 


12 


RELATIONS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


interests  of  good  sportsmanship  you  have  got  to  hear  this  colored 
man,  and  hear  with  an  open  mind.”  There  is  hardly  an  important 
church  gathering  in  the  South  now  where  some  Negro  is  not  in- 
vited to  speak.  People  are  studying  Negro  poetry  and  music  and 
are  giving  serious  and  sympathetic  consideration  to  all  these 
appeals. 

4.  Not  only  have  Negroes  in  these  days  been  speaking  for 
themselves,  but  they  have  found  new  voices  to  speak  for  them.  I 
have  a book  of  clippings  out  of  the  Georgia  press.  In  news  item 
and  editorial  there  is  an  insistent  demand  for  justice.  This  is 
typical  of  the  best  Southern  dailies,  from  the  Louisville  Courier 
Journal  to  the  New  Orleans  Times  Picayune.  The  strong  words  of 
Governors  Dorsey,  Bickett,  Roberts  and  Morrow  have  not  hereto- 
fore been  common  among  men  in  their  class.  The  utterances  of 
church  bodies  and  women’s  clubs  are  strong  and  insistent  for  jus- 
tice. The  conspiracy  of  silence  has  been  broken.  New  and  mighty 
voices  join  with  the  Negro  in  his  appeal  for  a better  chance. 

5.  I hold  in  my  hand  a story.  It  is  printed  in  black  and 
white.  It  is  a map  of  the  lynchings  in  Georgia  for  the  thirty-five 
years  previous  to  1922.  There  had  been  in  that  time  about  439 
lynchings.  There  are  the  black  spots  on  the  map  showing  where 
those  lynchings  occurred.  Less  than  one-third  of  the  geographical 
territory  of  Georgia  has  had  lynchings  and  less  than  one-fourth  of 
the  population  of  the  State  live  within  that  territory.  During  the 
thirty-five  years  previous  to  1922,  with  439  lynchings,  there  had 
been  but  ONE  indictment,  so  far  as  the  records  show.  A cam- 
paign against  lynching  in  Georgia  began  with  the  issue  of  Governor 
Dorsey’s  pamphlet  in  1921,  covering  135  cases  of  injustice  that 
had  come  to  his  knowledge,  and  setting  forth  the  difficulties  he  had 
encountered  in  dealing  with  them.  In  1922,  there  have  been  eight 
lynchings  in  the  State  and  there  have  been  twenty-two  indictments. 
Four  men  are  already  in  prison  for  long  prison  terms.  Fifteen 
others  await  trial.  The  greater  number  of  these  will  be  tried,  not 
for  mob  violence,  but  for  murder,  a thing  unheard  of  before  in  the 
history  of  that  State. 

How  has  this  been  done?  A lynching  took  place  in  a particu- 
lar county  in  Georgia.  A competent  man  who  understood  Georgia 
spent  six  weeks  working  with  the  local  Interracial  Committee  gath- 
ering evidence.  They  brought  before  the  grand  jury  the  names 


13 


THE  NEW  INTER-RACE 


of  fifty-six  witnesses  who  were  ready  to  testify  against  the  mob. 
Four  of  them  were  called  and  as  a result  six  men  were  indicted. 

6.  The  poor  and  ignorant  everywhere  have  a hard  time  in 
the  courts.  The  Negroes  in  the  South  as  a class  are  very  poor 
and  very  ignorant.  During  the  last  year  the  Interracial  State 
Secretaries  helped  out  with  many  of  these  cases  of  injustice.  Some 
of  the  victims  had  been  driven  away  from  their  homes;  some  had 
property  taken  away  without  process  of  law;  some  had  been  held 
for  debt,  etc. 

This  work  requires  funds.  In  Georgia  about  $3,500  was  raised 
for  this  legal  aid.  The  best  lawyers  are  willing  to  advise  and  give 
money  to  pay  for  advice.  To  fight  these  cases  is  to  win  them.  It 
is  significant  that  the  fight  has  begun.  It  will  be  finished  when 
the  nation  builds  a better  functioning  judicial  system.  As  it  is 
now  justice  is  too  largely  a luxury  for  the  man  who  can  pay  for  it. 

7.  Possibly  the  thing  which  has  mattered  most  has  been 
the  changed  attitude  which  has  come  to  the  white  people  who 
have  been  doing  the  work.  The  other  day  a hospital  in  a small  town 
in  one  of  the  western  States  lost  the  little  vial  of  radium  it  owned. 
After  a very  diligent  search  it  was  decided  that  it  must  have  gone 
out  with  the  soiled  bandages  from  the  operating  room  down  into 
the  incinerator  and  thence  into  the  ash  heap.  Those  ashes  were 
sent  half-way  across  the  continent  to  a chemist  that  he  might 
rescue  the  radium  which  they  contained. 

Radium  in  ashes  make  a very  great  deal  of  difference  in  their 
value.  To  many  the  Negro  had  been  the  social  ash  heap  in  America. 
He  had  been  talked  of  as  a problem.  But  many  saw  the  Negro  dur- 
ing the  war,  how  much  he  contributed  and  how  much  of  an  Amer- 
ican he  had  become.  Some  went  into  the  laboratory  of  George 
Carver  at  Tuskegee,  and  realized  that  he,  a black  man,  had  for 
twenty-eight  years  worked  quietly  there,  and  in  that  time  had 
probably  made  more  contributions  to  the  scientific  development  of 
agriculture  than  any  other  Southern  scientist,  black  or  white.  In 
the  light  of  such  examples,  this  ash  heap  was  seen  to  have  values 
greater  than  radium.  The  voices  of  the  Fisk  singers,  the  lives  of 
Negro  doctors,  ministers  and  farmers,  many  of  whom  were  trained 
in  the  schools  that  you  established  a generation  ago,  today  have  a 


14 


RELATIONS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


new  meaning.  With  many  others  I am  convinced  that  the  millions 
of  Negroes  in  America  have  something  of  great  value  to  contribute 
to  American  life. 

The  Negro  is  not  a menace  to  America.  He  has  proved  him- 
self worthy  of  confidence.  He  has  been  and  may  continue  to  be  a 
blessing.  In  the  years  that  are  to  come  he  needs  the  help  of  those 
who  have  voices  of  influence.  He  needs  unnecessary  barriers  out 
of  his  way,  and  a chance  to  demonstrate  that  under  God  he  is  a 
man  and  can  play  a man’s  part. 


For  Further  Information  Address 

Commission  on  Interracial  Cooperation 

409  Palmer  Building 

Atlanta,  Georgia 


